Kansas City, like many other American cities, has a parking problem. There is almost a parking area on every corner of downtown Kansas City and, yet people complain about parking unavailability. As part of the public realm, we should take more consideration when designing parking spaces. How can we make parking spaces more suitable for our cities and more pleasing to look to be around? I looked at some of the parking spaces in the Kansas City area that I think are well-designed. As part of my search for a space, I was looking for elements like art, murals, multifunctional spaces, shading, and spaces where you could sit especially garages. I looked at the Kansas City Mural, Kauffman Center parking garage, River Market, The 12th St Viaduct, and finally West Terrace parking. These parking areas had an aspect I think should be standard for all parking areas.
The first parking area I had in mind was the West Terrace Circle Parking, I like this car park simply because of its city floor design. Not a lot of consideration goes into designing parking spaces, which is why a lot of parking areas look depressing. The pattern changes also encourage slower driving. The parking area is also in a of the highest points in the city where you can oversea a lot of great view into west bottoms and surrounding areas.
The first parking area I had in mind was the West Terrace Circle Parking, I like this car park simply because of its city floor design. Not a lot of consideration goes into designing parking spaces, which is why a lot of parking areas look depressing. The pattern changes encourage slower driving. The parking area is also at one of the highest points in the city where you can overseas a lot of great views into the west bottoms and surrounding areas.
Multipurpose parking is another great way to use parking spaces. Parking that can be used for things like setting space when necessary, parking that can be turned into a weekend market space. When people occupy spaces that were designed for cars, I think that is a good parking space.
Parking with shade. It is not a secret that every parking space has almost too little to no shade. During the summer heat, shades are the most valuable spaces parking look for, heck even cars, overheating is a real issue. So underground parking like Kauffman Center with its ground parking does not take up any surface space, it also leaves a nice green space on top for people to have fun activity on top of the garage. Spaces parking however should incorporate shade into their designs.
